Clip-on type fasteners have been used for many years for example to provide a means for threadingly securing a threaded member to a panel.
Certain of such prior art fasteners have also heretofor featured one leg end flared or bent angularly away from the other to enhance spreading the legs apart by a panel or plate edge as previously described. Examples of such are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,062,685; 2,672,905; 3,414,035; 3,358,729; 3,426,818; 3,669,170; 4,200,027; 4,508,477 and French patent 2489-903 and in published British Patent Application GB 2102905A, the disclosures of which are included herein by reference.
Certain of the prior art patents also disclose clip-on type fasteners having the end of one leg flared or bent away from the other leg as previously described in combination with the other leg including an angularly bent tab for centering the securement part of the fastener within an opening through the panel of which examples can be found in previously described U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,672,905; 3,426,818; 3,669,170; 4,509,477 and in French Patent 2489-903 and British Patent Application GB 2102905A.
In some instances, such clip-on type fasteners have also heretofor that featured the centering tab without one of the leg ends being flared or bent away from the other at its end such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,581,481 and 4,714,392, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Yet another example of a clip-on type fastener having both of the leg ends flared or bent away from each other to ease spread apart of the legs upon engagement with one edge of a panel or plate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,308,708, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference and that, along with Pat. Nos. 2,062,685; 2,672,905; 3,308,708; 4,200,027 and 4,508,477, are assigned to the assignee of the present invention.
However, none of the clip-on type fasteners heretofore described have featured the inclusion of a tab extending from one of a pair of resilient arms overhanging one of the legs to act as a guide to provide a means for engaging a panel or plate edge to ease spread apart of the legs rather than having an end of one or both of the legs bent or flared away from the other therefor enabling the end of the leg to provide a broader base from which the resilient arm extends.